The sleeping car is a railroad car on a train with sleeping facilities. The more luxurious types have real beds and compartments not shared with strangers, while the couchette car with berths is more basic, with compartments for four or six people, where seats convert into double- or triple-level bunk-beds, respectively.

The cars made long-distance travel by train more comfortable and popular since it allowed sleeping on the train. George Pullman invented the sleeping car in 1864.

One unanticipated social consequence of the sleeping car was its convenience as a rendezvous for lovers, anonymous, and, by definition, away from the constraints of home. Important scenes in such films as Some Like It Hot and North by Northwest take place in Pullman cars.

Another unanticipated consequence was the effect of the Pullman on civil rights and African American culture. Each Pullman car came to be managed by a uniformed porter. These were almost always African-Americans and, by convention, were all called "George". Although this was servant's work, it was relatively well paid and Pullman porters[?] became leaders in the black communities where they lived, forming a nucleus of the middle class. And, since all other railroad trades were unionized, the porters were unionized as well. Their union became an important source of strength for the burgeoning civil rights movement in the early 20th century, notably under the leadership of A. Phillip Randolph[?].

Because they moved all across the country and stayed in local black communities between shifts, Pullman porters also became an important means of communication for news and cultural information of all kinds. The black newspaperChicago Defender gained a national circulation in this way. In particular, porters used to sell phonograph records bought in the great metropolitan centers greatly adding to the distribution of jazz and blues and the popularity of the artists.